A security guard who was seriously injured when she was trampled by people trying to hop the fence into Ultra Music Festival Friday night was still hospitalized but breathing on her own Sunday, said Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, who planned to use the incident as leverage to block the return of the festival to Miami.

Regalado said Erica Mack, 28, the injured Contemporary Services Corporation security guard, still had a “long road ahead of her.” She suffered severe brain hemorrhaging when she was trampled by a mob of people who did not have tickets to the festival and stormed a weak spot in the fencing.

“She is disoriented and confused and nobody knows how this will affect her future,” he said. Jackson Memorial Hospital did not release any information about the patient; Regalado said he got an update from Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa.

Devan Schulz, the security company’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement that they were “deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred this weekend at Ultra Music Festival. We will continue to keep Erica Mack and her loved ones in our thoughts and prayers as we closely monitor her condition.” Organizers of the festival said they shared Contemporary’s sentiments and hope “for a swift and full recovery.”

In their own statement, the organizers added that they “prohibit any form of unlawful entry in to the event grounds. Preliminary investigations show that the incident was caused by individuals not in possession of event tickets and who were determined to gain unauthorized entry.

“Every year the event organizers work collaboratively with police and other municipal partners along with the organizers’ independent security partners to ensure the safety of all patrons, crew and working personnel.”

As festival-goers flocked to Bayfront Park Sunday for the third and final day of the festival, Regalado and other city leaders said they would see if a problem with fencing that led to the guard being critically injured constituted a breach of contract that could help them push the long-running show out of Miami.

“Our mission is to safeguard the lives of the people,” Regalado said.

Meanwhile, police reported an increase in arrests: 33 on Saturday, up 10 from Friday. There were 55 rescue runs.

Just hours before the Friday night stampede, Miami police had inspected the perimeter of the event at Bayfront Park and called for additional fencing at the spot where the guard was later injured. But no additional fencing was added.

The three-day electronic music event, which is expected to top 160,000 revelers, is now in its 16th-year and amid a boom in the popularity of electronic music, Ultra has been criticized in the past for rowdiness, illegal drug use and an increase in traffic to downtown.

Regalado said Ultra organizers “acted irresponsibly” by failing to properly secure the venue.

“I think we should not have Ultra next year here,” Regalado told the Miami Herald on Saturday. “This incident should never have happened.”

Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff agreed, saying he has long complained about rampant drug use at the event — last year, a young man died of a drug overdose — and the possibility of trampling.

“I feel horrible for her,” Sarnoff said of the injured guard. “We knew better and we should have done better for her.”

The tragic episode took place about 8 p.m. Friday at a section of the fence at Southeast First Street and Biscayne Boulevard, near an area used to store heavy equipment and supplies for the festival.

The mob storming the fence did not have tickets, which cost about $400 for general admission. The guard had been posted to the fence and may have been trying to hold the unruly crowd back when she was overrun, said Miami Fire-Rescue spokesman Ignatius Carroll.

Mack also suffered a broken leg and was seen with blood coming out of her ears as paramedics treated her at the scene.

Security along the perimeter has been a perennial concern at the event, which opened its gates Friday to the public at about 4 p.m.. According to law enforcement sources, two hours before the gates opened, police broadcast on the radio that additional fencing was needed at the same spot where the guard was ultimately trampled.

None was put up.

The breach happened at a spot of chain-link fences at Southeast First Street and Biscayne Boulevard. At the time, the zone did not feature sturdier, unclimbable portable fencing in use in other areas around the festival.

Miami’s homicide unit, which investigates all non-fatal attacks and deaths, is now looking for witnesses to the incident, said Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss. No one has been charged in connection to Mack’s trampling.

The event brings in millions in tourist revenue and helps pay for the Bayfront Park Trust, which maintained the venue.

The president of Miami’s police union, Javier Ortiz, said he had complained to the city about a shortage of police officers at Ultra. Festival organizers pay the trust, which in turn supplies fencing, security guards and uniformed police officers.

“Civilians do not have the training, experience or authority to handle, for the most part, a crowd of intoxicated people who have zero regard for human life,” Ortiz said. “The poor woman who was injured was put into a dangerous position, left to fend for herself against an overwhelming crush of people.”

On Friday night and early Saturday, police arrested 22 people. Of those, 15 people were arrested on felony charges Friday, according to Miami Police. Six more people were arrested on misdemeanor charges, while one more person was arrested for a traffic violation.

The police department did not detail the exact charges for those people arrested.

Last year, Miami police arrested 167 people during the festival, mostly for drugs and trying to enter the event without paying.

Security firms watch social media for feisty fans
By Luke Meredith for The Associated Press 3/27/2014

As Minnesota Vikings fans were getting ready for the final game at the Metrodome last December, officials at Whelan Security noticed social media chatter suggesting some of the faithful might rush the field and try to steal a piece of history.

So the firm that provides security for the Vikings boosted the number of guards present that day to maintain calm during the team’s 14-13 win against Detroit.

They checked online chatter in part because there was a precedent for chaos: When the team had its final game in Metropolitan Stadium in 1981, fans rushed the field and nabbed anything and everything that wasn’t bolted down.

“It allowed us to have an idea of what was going on in the mindset of the people in the building so we could counteract that,” said Jeff Spoerndle, Whelan’s director of special services.

Turns out big brother is watching what fans are doing before they ever even scan a ticket to get inside a game. Security firms tasked with monitoring fan behavior to stop them from rushing the court, threatening a coach or player, or getting rowdy during a big game are increasingly turning to social media as a predictor of whether or not fans will get feisty.

The firms are taking their lead from police, who’ve long used Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other sites to monitor chatter that could tip them off to potential criminal activity in their communities.

With the NCAA tournament in full swing, companies hired to provide security at venues from Spokane, Wash., to Orlando, Fla., have an added option in watching for fans who might take things too far. As the popularity of sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram continues to grow, apparently so has their use by those protecting college and pro sporting events.

None of the security companies that worked the second and third-round sites for the NCAA tournament would discuss specific protocols with The Associated Press or disclose specifically what they’re looking for, saying it would defeat their efforts to keep the tournament safe. But Mark Williams, the security manager for the NCAA tournament host Spokane Arena, did acknowledge that monitoring social media is a common practice in the industry.

“What it does for us is that it gives us a heads up. It’s not our first line of defense and we don’t fall back on it. It’s information that helps us in our planning and in our preparation,” said David Yorio, managing director of New York-based Citadel Security Agency.

Court security has been an issue for college basketball all season. A student was accused of spitting on two Oregon staff members, fans charged the court during an altercation after a game between New Mexico State and Utah Valley, and a fan sprinted onto the court at UC Santa Barbara to confront the Hawaii coach before dashing back into the stands.

Some police departments and security firms have used social media as a way to control incidents popping up during games, too. Toronto police have long been proactive in the use of social media, and the department uses its official Twitter account to both monitor and listen to sports fans. Constable and social media officer Scott Mills noted that social media also can instantly affect fan behavior.

While staffing a Toronto FC game, he noticed that the soccer team’s supporters were throwing debris on the field specifically to get the attention of an attractive woman whose job included running out to clean up the mess. Mills called out the fans on Twitter, and they soon stopped.

“For the police and the security firm, if you have a communications strategy, using social media … you can get your message out for orderly conduct or for in the event of an emergency, to actually communicate with the fans,” he said.

Citadel, which handles promotional events for the NFL, NHL and Major League Soccer, considers social media an indispensable tool.

Yorio said that Citadel will first look through the followers of a player or team on Twitter and Instagram and monitor hashtags and other communication for either a potential or a direct threat. If anything suspicious pops up, Citadel will do a background check and see if they had applied for a media credential or bought a ticket.

Citadel will then alert staffers on the ground to be aware of what they found.

“It’s just mind-blowing that you can, in a 10- or 15-minute search, follow some hashtags, you follow a trail and you can uncover all kinds of information,” Yorio said.

Copyright (2014) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

A lawsuit from a Levittown couple claims unfair treatment at Lincoln Financial Field.
By Dan McQuade | March 13, 2014

Fans at Lincoln Financial Field can unpleasant. The Linc doesn’t have Veterans Stadium’s reputation for boorish fan behavior, but attend a game and there’s a good chance someone around you will be making a scene of himself with obnoxious behavior. It is part of the, erhm, charm of attending an Eagles game. (That, and the harassment of women.)

Where was I? Anyway, a fan from Levittown is suing the Eagles, claiming he was assaulted after shouting a “good natured” obscenity at a fan.

Gary Strain and his wife Margaretta, longtime Eagles season ticketholders, visited Lincoln Financial Field in December to watch the Eagles play the Arizona Cardinals.

As the couple climbed to their upper-level seats, Gary Strain “jokingly chanted in an elongated and good-natured tone ‘a––––––’ to a male below him wearing a Cardinals jersey,” the lawsuit states.

The Cardinals fan was an undercover cop. Strain claims he was rushed by security and tackled to the ground. The suit says he and his wife were given disorderly conduct citations but the cases weren’t listed at court.

10/24/13
LONDON (AP) — A British soccer fan has been jailed for 12 months for punching a police horse in the head after his team lost a derby match.

Barry Rogerson was one of several fans arrested after violence erupted following Newcastle United’s 3-0 loss to Sunderland on April 14. Clashes between their fans aren’t uncommon because of the fierce rivalry between both teams.

The 45-year-old Rogerson, who was drunk, first clapped in the face of, then punched Bud, a horse working for West Yorkshire Police. Judge Paul Sloan sentenced him Thursday to 12 months in prison for violent disorder and banned him from attending any soccer matches in the U.K. for six years.

Sloan said the officer riding Bud could have easily been thrown off the horse and been badly hurt.

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Police in Slovenia say hooligans have attacked Sevilla fans after a Europa League match against Maribor, injuring four people.

Police said on Friday that assailants in cars followed the Spanish fans’ bus after the match late Thursday until it stopped on a highway rest area. The attackers then came out of their cars and started beating the rival fans.

Police say the attackers fled the scene before the police arrived. Four Spanish fans were briefly hospitalized. The Maribor-Sevilla match ended 2-2.

A 34-year-old Brazilian football fan was been beaten to death by supporters from a rival team following a high-profile match in the Sao Paulo state championship, police said on Monday.

Authorities said the Santos supporter was at a bus stop after the game on Sunday when members of a Sao Paulo fan group drove by and started attacking him with punches, kicks and iron bars.

Marcio Barreto de Toledo, who was wearing a shirt that identified him as a member of a Santos fan group, died at a hospital from multiple head injuries.

Police were investigating the attack, which happened after the teams’ 0-0 draw at Morumbi Stadium.

Authorities said they were also investigating another confrontation that left at least one other Santos fan injured. Local media said a teenager was shot in that fighting, but no other details were immediately available.

”It was a cowardly act to attack a 34-year-old father who was just trying to get home after a match,” Cosme Damiao Freitas, a director at the Santos fan group Torcida Jovem, told the Agencia Estado news service.

Fan groups have been at the root of fan violence in World Cup host Brazil, with confrontations in and outside stadiums becoming a common occurrence.

Last year’s Brazilian league was blighted by brawls. A confrontation in a decisive match in the final round made headlines across the world, with hundreds of rival fans charging against each other in the stands. Four men were seriously injured and the game had to be interrupted. One of the injured had to be airlifted from the pitch to a hospital.

This year, two different shootings were reported outside the World Cup stadium Arena das Dunas in the northeastern city of Natal, both times involving rival groups. No one was seriously hurt.

Also, nearly 200 members of a Corinthians fan group invaded the team’s training center to threaten players. Some of them grabbed Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero by his neck to complain of poor results and demand better performances. Corinthians’ training center will be used by Iran’s national team during the World Cup in June.

FIFA and the local World Cup organizing committee have been saying that similar confrontations between fans groups are not expected during World Cup matches, where security will be tighter.

Lobo basketball fans are returning to The Pit Tuesday night to see the team take on Utah State. This, just a few days after a UNM fan threw a cup at another team’s player.

On Saturday, a fan threw a cup of liquid at a San Diego State basketball player during the game. Now, UNM is warning fans that this behavior will not be tolerated.

On Monday, KOB Eyewitness News 4 got a statement from Mike Haggerty, the assistant athletic director for events. Haggerty wrote, in part: “The vast majority of Lobo fans are terrific and do things the right way, and we greatly appreciate them. However, we would also like to remind fans that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”

UNM athletic officials told us they think they have the person responsible for the incident. The university received a lot of help from fans in the stands who witnessed the act.

Fans can report any misconduct during games by sending a text message to 78247.

Two Chelsea fans stabbed in Istanbul ahead of trip to ‘Hell’ against Galatasaray as home supporters attack with ‘bottles and knives’
By Matt Barlow and Jack Gaughan and Oliver Todd

PUBLISHED: 19:04 EST, 25 February 2014

Chelsea supporters were the victims of two unprovoked attacks around an Istanbul bar on Tuesday night, with an eye-witness claiming the assailants were using bottles and knives.

The fans were a part of two separate incidents the day before the Blues’ trip to Galatasaray – the same area where two Leeds fans were attacked and killed in 2000, ahead of a UEFA Cup semi-final.

Neither of the Chelsea fans were thought to be seriously hurt – one has a wound on the hand – and neither required hospital attention. The club were made aware of the incident.

A 57-year-old fan, who preferred not to be named, was among those attacked and said: ‘About 30 of them attacked a group of ten of us in the main street off Taksim Square.

‘There were a few of them out looking for Chelsea. There were guys with bumps and bruises.

‘I think tonight (Wednesday) will be worse.’

Seb Owens, 22 from Putney, said: ‘We were walking down the main drag looking for a pub when a huge group of them attacked us with bottles and knives. We had to split up to get away so I don’t know how many were hurt.’

The club’s security experts will spend Wednesday investigating the incidents and speaking to fans in order to gather more information. Around 1,300 are expected at the ground for the last-16 clash.

Chelsea have to provide a report to UEFA, although it is up to the local police to deal with the issue primarily.

Dave Johnstone, spokesman for the Chelsea fanzine cfcuk, said: ‘I’d say 99.9 per cent of people we have met in Istanbul have been really nice and friendly. You can go to any city in the world and find yourself in trouble. There is probably more violence in parts of London.

‘I don’t want to generalise about all Galatasaray or Turkish football fans. There will always be the minority of people looking for trouble. My advice to those fans coming out today would be to be on your toes, be wary. Don’t go looking for trouble. Be friendly.’

Johnstone reports that he heard that a small group of Chelsea fans were ‘rushed’ and by locals purporting to be Galatasaray fans. He saw one fan who had been stabbed in the buttock, one with a black eye and another who had been beaten up. He described them as ‘walking wounded.

‘While Istanbul is generally a safe city and the police have not given any specific areas to be avoided (other than the Metro to the stadium on match day), supporters should be aware of pickpockets, petty theft and bag snatchers in crowded places,’ it read.

‘Care should be taken to keep bags and cameras secure and not to keep on show any other valuables. Supporters are advised to leave their passports in the hotel safe and use another form of photographic ID.’

They routinely carry out an advance inspection of all European venues with a club official in advance of games.

The Foreign Office confirmed it was investigating reports of the incidents which took place around Taksim Square.

‘We are looking into reports,’ said a spokeswoman. ‘We have had no confirmation of an incident. If confirmed we stand ready to provide consular assistance.’